Lab Partners
by Kate811
Summary: A problem with their college degrees has Addison and Alex back in school! Insults will be tossed and sparks will fly as these two stubborn doctors learn lessons on anatomy, physiology, and love!
1. Recess is Over

**Author's Note**: Yeah, I'm almost 120% positive this could never, ever happen. But I had to dissect a cat in my Anatomy/Physiology class and it was gross and I thought to myself, "This would be a lot nicer if Alex Karev was my lab partner." … And that daydreaming turned into this. Baby Story and View from Heaven are also coming along, and I realize I'm an idiot for posting another story when I've still got others that need finishing. I've just been really busy with school, which … I guess is pretty obvious considering I'm now using my school as fan fiction plot.

This story takes place after the Addek divorce but before Addex started having cute moments. I'm pretty sure that's my favorite time setting to write in. Read, review, and enjoy!

* * *

**Lab Partners – Chapter 1 - Suspended**

"Doctor Karev, I don't care if you think you're right. You had no right to tell that woman's husband off!" Addison Montgomery lectured her cocky intern as they both stomped angrily down a surprisingly vacant hospital hallway.

"Doctor Montgomery, he was out of line! He kept saying we were administering the epidural in the wrong spot! How would he even know?" Alex rolled his eyes.

"Be that as it may, calling him an 'idiotic fool who wouldn't know his own ass if it jumped up and bit him in the face' was not the route to take." Addison deadpanned.

Alex sighed and rubbed a tired hand over his face. "Look, it got him to back off, we were able to administer the epidural, and she delivered a healthy baby boy."

"You still have to apologize to the family." She threw him one of her patented "I'm the Boss and You Do as I Say" looks, leaving no room for argument.

Unfortunately for Addison, Alex was immune to the look. "No." He shook his head stubbornly.

Instead of shooting him her look again, she decided to verbalize her thoughts. "Karev, I'm the boss, and you do as I say."

"Yeah but—"

"Doctor Montgomery? Doctor Karev?" Richard's secretary Patricia interrupted what was about to turn into a full-blown verbal sparring, "Doctor Webber would like to see you both in his office immediately." And with that she was gone, leaving no hint as to what the chief could possibly want with both of them.

The two doctors looked furiously at one another and exclaimed at the same time, "This is all YOUR fault!"

Then they stormed off in the direction of the chief's office.

* * *

Addison Montgomery was never the student who got called down to the principal's office. She was quiet and well-behaved; she had a few close friends who were equally quiet and well-behaved; her homework was always handed in promptly, sometimes even before the due date; she never cheated; she never talked back to a teacher; she never even had a bad word to say about anybody in her school.

However, as she and her infuriating intern made their way into the chief's office, Addison had a feeling that this was exactly what it would have been like to be summoned to the principal's office.

"What do you think he wants?" Alex whispered, and Addison fought back the urge to roll her eyes as they entered Richard's empty office.

"What do _you_ _think_ he wants? He's probably had it with patients and nurses and even our colleagues complaining to him about you and your attitude!"

"Me and _my_ attitude?" Alex asked incredulously. "Pot, meet kettle."

"I do _not_ have an attitude!" Addison exclaimed as they both sank down onto Richard's couch.

Alex rolled his eyes at her denial. "Oh please, you are the snarkiest attending we have on staff."

"I am not!"

"You are so—" Alex was about to counter her childish argument with an equally childish argument, but the door swung open and Richard entered.

"Ah, hello you two!" He greeted them amicably, yet somewhat nervously, and sat down at his desk.

"Richard, let me explain. Karev and I are both very stubborn, career-driven doctors. Sometimes our egos collide and we exchange words. We promise to keep it in check from now on and—"

Richard cleared his throat. "Um, that is not why I called you both into my office."

"It's not?" Addison blushed and Alex bit his lip hard enough to draw blood to keep from laughing out loud at his boss/mentor's obvious discomfort.

"No. I did call you in here for some pretty bad news though, but not to reprimand you on how you two conduct yourselves in my hospital. I guess I'll touch on _that_ later." Addison and Alex gulped at the glare the chief was now sending both their ways.

"Um…anyway..! You said you have bad news for us?" Addison glanced nervously at Alex, who looked as clueless as she felt.

"Right! Um, well there's no easy way to say this, but both your licenses to practice medicine have been suspended until further notice." Richard grimaced as he bluntly told them the news.

A dead silence enveloped the room for a few moments as the two took in his words. While Addison remained open mouthed and shell-shocked, Alex spoke up.

"What the hell are you freaking talking about?"

"It seems your Anatomy/Physiology professor had obtained his teaching degree illegally from Mexico. Therefore the grades you got in his class don't actually count anymore."

Alex looked at the chief like he was nuts. "Wait, what do you mean 'our Anatomy/Physiology professor'? Doctor Montgomery probably went to some hoity-toity school like Yale for pre-med, and I went to state college. Her professors were WAY out of my professors' leagues."

"How'd you know where I went to college?" Addison whispered to Alex, clearly startled that he bothered to learn this fact about her.

"Just took a wild stab at it." He shrugged in response.

"Yes well, his real name was Charles Lendon. Addison, I'm sure you remember him as Professor Gregory Larden?" Addison nodded, still in a state of shock. "And Karev, you would have known him as a Professor David Larlen."

"So the dude managed to scam Yale and then once he got bored teaching those snobs he hightailed it over to Iowa?" Alex managed to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Exactly." Richard nodded.

"We were not snobs!" Addison mumbled under her breath, and then added, "Richard, what the hell are we supposed to do? Are our degrees meaningless now?"

"No, you two just have to complete the necessary 8 credits of Anatomy/Physiology I and II. Luckily it's the end of August, so I was able to get you both enrolled at the Seattle Central Community College. Classes were booked, but with a generous donation to the school and a promise that their nursing students could do their clinical work at Seattle Grace, I managed to get you both into the same class." Richard seemed pleased with himself, while Addison and Alex remained disgusted with the situation.

"So we just have to give up a year of our lives? I have to give up my patients and Karev has to give up a year of his internship so we can take a stupid college course?" By the end of her tirade of questions, Addison was near hysterics.

"Yeah and what about my internship? Will I still have a spot here when I graduate?" Alex added.

"You will both still have a place of employment here at Seattle Grace." Richard reassured the two.

"And we just have to accept that this is happening and go back to school?" Alex bemoaned.

"Yep." Richard nodded.

"This is absurd, absolutely absurd." Addison groaned as she rubbed at her now throbbing temples.

"I agree." Alex said, surprising both of them that they were actually agreeing on something.

Richard sighed. "I agree, too. But it doesn't change anything; you two are still going back to school."

The intercom buzzed and Patricia's voice could be heard. "Dr. Webber? The dean at some community college is on line one for you? Says he wants to go over some details with you over your agreement about nursing clinicals?"

"I'll take it. Put him on hold for me." The chief got up from his seat and hustled the two to the door. "Look you two, if there was any other way around this, you know I would have done it. But there's really nothing I can do. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a call to take."

"So what's left for us to do? Just show up for class and pass the course?" Addison asked exasperatedly.

"First I'd suggest doing some school supply shopping. Maybe pick up some index cards…perhaps a backpack for your textbooks!" Richard quipped lightheartedly.

Addison did not appreciate the tone of his voice. "Richard, I do not like—"

The chief interrupted, "Addison, it doesn't matter what you like anymore. If you want your license back, you're going to have to do it. Class starts Monday, 8am sharp. Make me proud, you two!"

And with a final push out into the hall and a quick slamming of the door, the conversation was closed.

The two doctors, well, ex-doctors, stood quietly in the hall for a few moments, allowing the shock of the situation to fully hit them. Addison spoke up first.

"Oh, my God. This must just be some horrible nightmare I'm having. I'm going to wake up very soon and chuckle about this nonsense any minute now."

"Well," Alex sighed, "if you don't wake up from it soon, I guess I'll see you on Monday."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! Up next we'll have their first day of school!**

**Also, I got this idea from the first episode of my new favorite show, Community. Joel McHale's character was a lawyer who illegally obtained his law degree. It's hilarious and I suggest you all tune in!**

**And, I did my research. Seattle Central Community College actually exists. And they have the courses that the Doctors Karev and Montgomery need to take!**

**Now be a dear and push the review button and drop me a line, would ya?**


	2. Back to the T Zone

**Author's Note: **Ugh, sorry it took so long. What an inopportune time to be struck with Writers' Block: My Christmas freaking Break.

* * *

**Chapter 2 – Back to the T Zone**

At exactly 7:40 on Monday morning, Addison entered the assigned classroom. Smiling warmly to the few students already in the room, she took a seat in the middle seat in the first row and neatly arranged her folder, notebook, highlighter, and pen on the desk. Then she heaved her enormous textbook out of her designer bag, all the while wondering how the hell anyone was supposed to lug the thing back and forth from their houses to school all year without suffering a back injury. Satisfied she was perfectly prepared for class to begin, she downed the rest of her thermos of coffee, wrote her name and date in the corner of the first page of her notebook, rearranged her pens and highlighters, double-checked her phone to make sure it was on silent, and then glanced up at the clock on the wall.

7:53. And still no sign of Karev.

'_Where the HELL is he? I swear if he switched to a later class so he could sleep in and I'm stuck in a class of students, all half my age, knowing no one and everyone thinking I'm some kind of old lady freak, I will kill him.'_ Addison thought murderous thoughts about her infuriating intern as she outwardly smiled at the incoming students.

Finally, at 7:55 on the dot, a disheveled Alex stumbled his way through the door, carrying a notebook and pen in one hand and his cell phone and car keys in the other. He looked around the room, and his tired eyes came into focus on Addison, who was shooting daggers at him.

"Oh, hello!" He nodded her way.

"What took you so long?" She rolled her eyes.

"I live like, five minutes away. I set my alarm for twenty of eight." Alex shrugged as he bit back a yawn.

Addison shot him a look of utter disbelief. "When you were a surgeon you had to be clocked in at work at 4am. How can you even be tired now?"

"I don't know, something about school … just puts me in a tired mood." Alex explained and then wrinkled his brow, "Why the hell are you sitting in the front row?"

"I always sit in the front row. Psychologists say the students who learn the most and pay the most attention are the ones who sit in the T Zone." Addison gestured to the seats behind her and next to her which formed the shape of a T.

"Learn the most? Pay the most attention? Come on, Addison, don't be a nerd." Alex shot her a smirk that made her blood boil.

"How does wanting to achieve the best grade possible in a class the hospital is paying for so I can have my license back, make me a nerd?" Addison asked, choosing to ignore the fact that he called her by her first name. Granted she technically wasn't Doctor Addison Forbes Montgomery at the moment, but he was still a pain in her ass so technicalities did not apply to him.

Alex pointed a knowing finger at her. "Exactly, you're taking this class to get your license back. Your medical license. You were a surgeon before all this. And this is just some stupid college course you took back when you were a freshman. You've saved thousands of lives; do you really think you don't already know everything there is to know about Anatomy and Physiology? I say we sit in the back of the class, earn our C's, and get the hell out of here and back to practicing medicine where we belong!"

Addison's eyes narrowed as she thought about his words. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're right."

"I'm always right. Oh and one more piece of advice: no one ever buys their textbooks before the first day of class." He gestured to the Anatomy/Physiology textbook, "You really are a nerd."

"Shut up. And um, help me carry the book to a seat in the back, please?" Addison picked up the gigantic book and plopped it in his hands, then cursed him inwardly for not even flinching at the heavy weight of the book.

The two made their way to the back corner and got to their seats just as the professor walked in and wrote her name on the board: Doctor Natalie Matthews.

"I heard she's the best Anatomy/Physiology teacher at the school." Addison whispered to Alex.

"Score!" Alex exclaimed sarcastically and gave her a less than enthusiastic thumbs up in response.

"Good morning, class. I'm Doctor Matthews, and this is Human Anatomy & Physiology I." The woman smiled politely to the class and began handing out a large stack of papers to be passed around, "I'm handing out the syllabus and lab schedule. I'll give you a few moments to look through and then I'll have you go around and introduce yourselves. Then I'll hand out the lecture notes for Unit One which you should have read by next class, and you'll be free to go after that."

"Sweet! I get to go home and go back to bed!" Alex grinned excitedly at Addison, who was turning visibly paler by the second.

"Dude, what's wrong?" Alex asked, surprising the both of them by the note of concern in his voice.

"Did…did she say w-we're gonna introduce ourselves?" Addison gulped.

"Yeah, so?" Alex asked confusedly, but then it dawned on him, "Oh, do you hate public speaking?"

"I don't hate public speaking!" Addison denied vehemently.

Alex gave her a knowing look. "Well then what's the problem?"

"The problem is that I…" Addison trailed off, trying to think of something to say.

"You…?" Alex fished for an answer.

"I…hate public speaking." She begrudgingly admitted, hating that he was right.

"I knew it!" Alex grinned triumphantly. "I don't get it though; you do it every day at work."

"That's different. At work I'm in my element. I am always in control and I always know I am going to say the right thing." Addison explained.

"What could you possibly say wrong here? You just say your name and why you're here. Also keep in mind you are leagues ahead of every student in the classroom. If that doesn't give you the confidence to speak in front of the class, just picture them in their underwear or something."

Addison opened her mouth to thank him, when she realized all eyes were on her.

"Oh…it's – is it my turn?" She stammered.

"Yes, what's your name?" Doctor Matthews asked.

"It's um, it's Addison. Addison Montgomery."

"Okay, Addison, and why are you taking this class?"

"I'm taking this class because…because um…" She nervously looked at Alex who nodded in encouragement.

"…Because I was a surgeon and it was discovered that my original Anatomy/Physiology teacher was a fraud, so I need to retake the class to get my license to practice medicine back." Addison finished explaining then beamed with pride that she was able to talk in front of the class.

Her happiness was short-lived, however, when a student who had earlier identified herself as Jessica spoke up.

"How is that even fair? We have a surgeon in the class who's going to get A's on all the tests and make the rest of the students look bad. She's going to throw off the whole grading curve! I don't think she should be allowed to take the class with us!"

"Now wait a minute…" Doctor Matthews tried to interject, but a chorus of complaints from around the classroom overpowered her.

"I…um…" Addison looked around helplessly.

"HEY! If anything she should give all you morons an incentive to study harder instead of relying on a grading curve to help you pass the class!" Alex's booming voice cut through the noise of the classroom.

Struck silent, the class turned their attention to him while Addison mouthed a silent "thank you" to him.

"Um, hello, everyone. I'm Alex Karev. I'm here for the same reason as Addison, so…yeah." He explained awkwardly.

"Nice to have both of you with us!" Doctor Matthews greeted, "I think it will be a nice change of pace to have two surgeons in the class. We could ALL probably learn something from them!" She looked towards Jessica, the one who started all the chaos, "And there is no grading curve. It's every man for himself in this class, so I suggest you all work together to make it through the course."

She held up the stack of notes for the first unit. "You're all free to go now, but please make sure you get the notes and have them read before next class!"

The class quickly packed up their things and grabbed the notes and dismissed.

"Well, that was hell." Addison groaned to Alex once they were out in the hallway.

"Tell me about it." Alex agreed.

"That Jessica girl was kind of a bitch." Addison sighed.

"No one in the class liked us." Alex added.

"We're definitely way smarter than everyone in the class." Addison affirmed

"Let's kick everyone's asses in this class. Let's both get A plusses and blow them ALL out of the water!" Alex proclaimed.

"No more C's?" Addison asked.

"No more C's." Alex answered.

"So…we're back to the T zone?" Addison asked.

"Back to the T zone." Alex answered.

* * *

**Just so you all know, I don't actually think people are nerds when they pay attention in class and buy their books ahead of time. I actually do that! I just wanted to show the different takes Addison and Alex have when it comes to school! Anyway, hope you all enjoyed, and if you could leave me a review that'd be great!**


	3. Einstein and Bill Nye

**Author's Note**: I know, I know. I suck with the updating! I'm sorry! I love you all for reviewing though. And I hope you'll still read, and review, and enjoy … out of the goodness of your hearts? Pretty please!

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Einstein and Bill Nye**

"Karev, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Addison looked up from her spot on the floor amidst piles of notes and textbooks when she heard the sound of her television clicking on.

She had invited him over to study for their first test, which was happening the next day. Alex had turned her down, stating that there was no need to study when they were both medical geniuses and could run circles around any of the morons in their class. Addison had stared at him angrily, and Alex had gulped and finally agreed to come over, which is how Addison presently found herself sitting on the floor in front of her bed with Alex's head right above her shoulder reading from her notes. (He claimed his notes were too illegible for even him to be able to discern. Addison had a sneaking suspicion he didn't actually take notes, but she'd save that argument for another day.)

"Turning the TV on – what does it look like I'm doing?" He dangled the remote control in front of her face teasingly, snatching it back at the last second as she attempted to grab it out of his hand.

"We're supposed to be studying. Our first test is tomorrow, in case you've forgotten."

Alex groaned and momentarily placed his head down on the bed. When he came back up, he sighed. "We're ready for it. We've gotten 100's on every quiz we've had so far. We could probably teach this class better than Doctor Matthews, not that I'd want to because the educational system frowns on corporal punishment nowadays and I think the only way to get some of those idiots to pay attention would be a nice slap on the back of their heads."

"And the educational system breathes a collective sigh of relief that you will not be gracing them with your teaching skills." Addison sarcastically muttered.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Look, I can't study things I already know. I just … I can't! This is painful, Addison. This would be like Albert Einstein watching Bill Nye the Science Guy. This is BENEATH us."

"Nice Bill Nye the Science Guy reference." Addison grinned.

Her smile was contagious, and Alex found himself chuckling.

"I still think we should study though."

The chuckling stopped.

"Addison, we have been sitting here for about an hour. That is an hour too long to waste time on this. It's all the basics! We know body positions. We know the difference between a transverse, frontal, and sagittal cut– and if we didn't, we wouldn't be surgeons. We know that superficial means towards the surface and that deep means further away from the surface. We know that superior means higher up than inferior! We know—"

"I get it, I get it! We know things! But I really want to get a 100 on this test. I want to put that Jessica bitch in her place!" Addison declared.

Alex smiled a little at the competitive tone in her voice, "And we will! But there is no need to make ourselves crazy studying for a test we already know everything for."

Finally, Addison gave in. "You're right. I'm going to make my hair turn white with all the worrying I've been doing over this."

"Exactly. We're gonna be fine. We've got this!" He nudged her shoulder playfully.

Addison looked down at her watch. "And in order to do our best, I suggest getting a full eight hours of sleep. "

"Yes, ma'am." Alex tried his best to stifle a yawn.

"I'll see you tomorrow in class, Karev." Addison walked him over to her door.

"Yep, bright and early. You know…" He trailed off.

"What?"

Alex shot her his best playful smirk. "I think this may be the first time I was invited up to a woman's hotel room to do something besides-"

Addison blushed profusely. "GOODNIGHT, Karev!"

"Goodnight, Addison!" She shut the door in his face, and couldn't help but smile as she heard him laugh all the way down the hallway.

* * *

"Well, how do you think you did?" Alex asked once they had both finished the test and exited the classroom.

Addison smiled confidently. "Excellent! Perfect, even! How about you?"

"Same. We definitely nailed it."

"We definitely did."

"We'll just see about that!" Jessica interrupted their conversation with an evil cackle.

"Dude, is she for real?" Alex whispered to Addison loudly enough for the annoying girl to hear.

"I think she is." Addison stage-whispered back.

"You guys think you're so smart with your fancy medical degrees and whatnot. But it all comes down to hard work. And I don't think you two are up for it. When the grades are handed out tomorrow, you can bet your bottom dollar that I did better than both of you!" The brat stuck her tongue out at them, turned on her heels, and set off down the hallway.

"That's gonna be pretty hard to do considering we're getting 100's on the test! So suck on that!" Alex called after her.

"Don't let her get to you." Addison tried to be as soothing as possible, but the comforting hand she placed on his shoulder was now turning into a tight grip.

"You're hurting me." Alex pointed out.

She didn't appear to hear him, as all her energy was now focused on the infuriating girl. "She just pisses me off so much!"

"Uh, Addison … my shoulder?" Alex tried again.

"I mean, what did we ever do to her? NOTHING, that's what. And she thinks she can just talk down to us when we're the ones with our medical degrees and we're the ones who are brilliant and—"

"ADDISON. My shoulder agrees with you, now if you could please let go?" He finally snapped her out of her Jessica-induced rage.

"Oh," she let go, "sorry."

"Don't let her get to you." He repeated her earlier words.

"That girl is just begging for a smackdown!" She said through gritted teeth.

Alex squeezed her arm reassuringly. "And if it comes down to it, I will gladly let you be the one to administer the smackdown. Considering we're not technically doctors right now, I guess we don't have to listen to that oath that says we're here to save lives…so any smackdowns that occur during this time are okay."

For the first time since Jessica had left, Addison relaxed and smiled. "I like that logic."

"Good." Alex smiled back.

Suddenly, Addison let out a yawn.

"All that angry ranting must have zapped you of your energy." Alex surmised.

"I think so. I'm gonna go home and take a nice, long nap. And not even think about that twit until tomorrow – when we get 100's and she doesn't!"

"That's the spirit!" Alex chuckled.

Addison sighed. "Thanks for calming me down, Karev. If you weren't here I might have chased after her."

"No problem. Tomorrow you'll laugh over this, when we get 100's and she doesn't."

The two exchanged smiles at the thought.

"See you tomorrow, Addison."

"See you tomorrow, Karev."

* * *

" _NINETY NINE?_" Addison and Alex both exclaimed at the same time when they received their tests the following day.

Alex raised his hand."How the hell did we get ninety-nines? What could we possibly have done wrong?"

If Doctor Matthews was offended by Alex's language, she did not let on. "Ah, well … you guys didn't follow directions. I specifically asked you to spell out each word. And you both made the same mistake; you abbreviated the body quadrants."

Alex groaned furiously. "Oh come on! Who doesn't know how to spell 'Right Upper Quadrant, Right Lower Quadrant, Left Upp—"

Doctor Matthews cut him off. "I have to be fair, Alex. It says it clearly in the directions."

"Whatever." Alex rolled his eyes and looked over at Addison. "At least we still probably got the highest grades in the class."

"I really wanted a 100." Addison grumbled.

"Well, well, well. Looks like you two aren't as perfect as you think you are!" Jessica, once again, rudely interrupted.

"No, seriously … is this girl for real?" Alex whispered to Addison yet again.

"Shut up, Jessica!" Addison shot the girl her best glare, the one that used to send interns cowering away and that Alex still sometimes feared.

"Yeah, in fact, let me see your test!" Alex snatched the paper away from the girl's hands.

"Hey, you can't do that - it's not yours!" Jessica stammered nervously.

"_AHA!_ AN EIGHTY-SEVEN! Looks like we're better than you, after all!" Alex cheered victoriously as he and Addison exchanged high fives.

Jessica glowered at the two. "Next time! You'll see! You'll be sorry!"

"Yeah, yeah. Now run along and cry over the fact that we're smarter than you." Alex dismissed the girl, and she ran furiously out of the classroom.

"It's the little things like that that truly make me happy." Alex smiled contently to Addison, who was being awfully quiet.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked.

"I just…I really wanted a 100." Addison sighed sadly.

"Well, there's always next time, when we won't stupidly abbreviate crap that's always abbreviated in real life anyway!" Alex still sounded a little miffed over the mistake.

"Come on!" Addison stood up and grabbed his hand suddenly.

"What? Where are we going?" Alex's eyebrows furrowed together confusedly.

She had a determined glint in her eyes. "When I'm in a funk like this, there's only one thing that will get me out of it: surgery! We're going to the hospital, and no suspended license or Chief of Surgery is going to stop us!"

**Again, reviews … please? :)**


	4. The Doctor Is In

**Author's Note: **I really, really, REALLY suck. But on a brighter note, I have my last final on May 11th, (and coincidentally it is my Anatomy/Physiology final. So glad to be done with it, but don't worry, Addex is just getting started on all the "fun!") so after that I'm basically all yours. Read, review, and hopefully, enjoy! (And thanks for all the reviews thus far by the way. Seriously appreciate it!) :)

* * *

**Chapter 4 – The Doctor Is In**

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Addison?" Alex asked as they exited her car (which Alex was hesitant to ever step foot in again, as Addison had driven like a madwoman to get to the hospital) and sneakily walked through a back entrance to the hospital, both wearing their old lab coats.

"We're back in the hospital, Karev. I'm Doctor Montgomery now." Addison corrected and ignored his question.

"That doesn't make any sense."

"It makes perfect sense. Now shut up."

"Are you just gonna walk into the OR and demand they hand over a surgery? What if the chief catches us?"

"Karev, for someone who has no trouble mouthing off to authoritative figures, you sure have no balls sometimes."

"I have balls."

"Prove it and shut up while I think up a plan."

"You don't have a plan?"

"KAREV."

"Sorry!"

Addison bit her lip in thought. After a reasonable amount of time had gone by, Alex figured he proved that his balls very much existed, and spoke up again.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Do you have a plan?"

"If I had a plan I would have said something by now!" Addison snapped.

"You're so much nicer to me outside the hospital!" Alex groaned exasperatedly.

"Well I need someone to study with! Who else would I have talked to? Jessica?"

"That was low." Alex joked, pretending to be offended by her words.

At that, Addison had to laugh.

"Okay, let's just walk in there and act like we belong. If someone is in need of our assistance, we'll be there. If not, we leave, and we've gotten our sick fix at being in the hospital. So just act natural." She instructed.

"Got it." Alex nodded.

"And try to avoid eye contact with staff at all costs."

"Okay."

"And don't say-"

"I'm not a moron; let's go!" He couldn't take standing just outside their destination any longer.

She opened the door to reveal their holy land: The Maternity Ward.

"Last chance to back out." She challenged.

Alex looked her in the eyes. "Never."

The normal chaos that goes hand in hand with babies entering the world immediately greeted them. Men could be heard trying to soothe screaming women writhing in pain and cursing the men to an eternity in hell; nurses were running every which way; phones were ringing off the hook. It was beautiful, and everything Addison and Alex could have hoped for.

Confidently, they walked down the hallway, sneaking glances in rooms to make sure nothing was out of order. When they reached the end of the walk, Alex sighed.

"Everyone appears to be fine or is being taken care of already!"

"I know, what a waste. This was probably a really bad idea anyway. We should go." Addison did not accept defeat easily, and the words came out as if she did not really believe them.

"Yeah, you're right." Alex nodded, also not sounding convinced.

Suddenly, like a miracle sent down by the big-guy-upstairs himself, a frantic-looking man came running out of a room.

"Is there a doctor out there? Please, someone – my wife needs help!"

"WE CAN HELP!" Addison and Alex both yelled at the same time and immediately sprang into doctor-mode, running into the patient's room.

"Hi, Mary," Addison greeted as she put on a pair of gloves and scanned the patient's chart, "I'm Doctor Montgomery and I'll be taking care of you today."

"What happened to Doctor Peterson? He – he said _he_ was going to be my doctor!" The woman looked around nervously at the change of events when suddenly an intense contraction hit her. "Nevermind, nevermind! I don't care where he is or who's my doctor! Just get this baby out of me!"

"Doctor Peterson was in here about a half hour ago. He said it would still be hours before we saw any change." The husband informed.

"Well there's really no way to tell when these things will progress." Addison explained as she examined Mary's cervix. "You're ten centimeters dilated, Mary. You ready to push?"

"EXCUSE ME. Just what the hell do you think you're-Doctor Montgomery?" A doctor, presumably Doctor Peterson, entered the room and his eyes immediately widened when he saw his former coworker.

"Hello, Tom." Addison nodded his way, still examining the patient.

"Doctor Montgomery, you can't-you're not supposed to be here. This is MY patient, anyway!" Doctor Peterson stumbled for an argument.

Addison rolled her eyes. "Well seeing how my hand is currently in this woman's cervix, I'd say she's my patient now."

"Dude, she told you." Alex smirked at the other doctor.

Doctor Peterson looked around the room furiously before turning on his heels and storming off.

"He probably went to get the chief." Alex warned as he snapped on a pair of gloves and rushed about prepping the woman for delivery.

Addison ignored him, "Okay, Mary, on three, start pushing!"

Ten minutes later, a healthy baby boy entered the world.

"Oh, Doctor Montgomery, thank you so much." Mary gushed as Addison placed the bundle in her arms.

"He's beautiful." Addison beamed.

"We should probably get out of here before-" Alex start to whisper in her ear when the sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted him.

It was Richard, glaring on furiously. "YOU TWO. MY OFFICE. NOW."

* * *

Once again Addison felt as though she and Karev were in the principal's office, as they sat on the couch and watched Richard pace around the room, growing angrier with each step.

"What the hell were the two of you thinking? You don't currently have licenses to practice medicine. It something happened to that woman or the baby-"

"Nothing happened though!" Karev interrupted. "If we hadn't been there who knows what would have happened to the patient or her baby!"

"Karev's right. Doctor Peterson was nowhere in sight. He told the patient that she still had hours till delivery and no one had even bothered to check back on them. You're lucky that woman didn't have to deliver her baby by herself, Richard."

"You two could have gotten me a huge malpractice lawsuit!" The chief exclaimed.

"You're running the risk of getting a malpractice suit by not allowing Doctor Montgomery to do her job, Chief." Alex stood up to be eye-to-eye with Richard, noticed the angry glare was still present in his eyes, and sank back down onto the couch.

"What the hell kind of logic is that, Karev?"

"Well, Doctor Montgomery is the best in her field, and this is the place she chose to work. As chief, you are doing a dishonor to the patients of Seattle Grace Hospital by not allowing Doctor Montgomery to work and instead have second-rate doctors running around this place. That just doesn't seem right." Alex explained.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Richard rolled his eyes while Addison looked at Karev in total shock and admiration.

"But you're right, Karev." Richard finally nodded, "You are the best, Addison."

Addison's eyes widened as the chief seemed to give in a little. "I, um… thank you, Richard. And I understand that we put a great risk on the hospital today, and I promise we won't do it again. Really I mean-"

Richard put up a hand to interrupt her. "You damn well better do it again. We need you here! I think if we keep quiet about it, there's no reason why you cannot perform surgeries on the women who need you the most."

"Really?" Addison and Alex exclaimed at the same time.

"Really." Richard smiled.

"And Karev, too?" Addison asked while it was Karev's turn to look on in shock and admiration. "I mean, he is the surgeon who shows the most promise in my field and he is by far my best intern."

Richard nodded again in consent. "I will call _both_ of you in when we have a high risk pregnancy that deserves the best care we can offer."

"Thank you, Richard!" Addison stood up and threw her arms around the chief.

"Thanks, Chief." Alex stood up and shook the chief's hand in gratification.

"You're welcome. Now shouldn't you two get back to studying?" Richard winked.

"Yes, I suppose we should. Thanks again, Richard. You won't regret this!" Addison sent him a final smile as she and Alex walked out of the office together.

"I can't believe that actually went our way." Addison exclaimed once they had gotten back to the college's parking lot.

"I know, me neither. " Alex grinned.

"Thank you, for what you said to Richard, by the way."

She swore she saw a faint blush appear on his face at that. "Oh, uh, no problem. Thanks for convincing Richard to let me come back, too."

"I meant what I said, Karev. You really are the most promising intern I've seen in a long time."

"Seriously?" Alex asked, honored by the compliment.

"Seriously." Addison answered, shooting him a proud smile which he promptly returned.

The two stood there smiling for a few moments before she broke the moment.

"Uh, well, I better get going. I want to get a head start on the next unit. I'll, um, I'll see you tomorrow, Karev!"

She turned on her heels and got back into her car, speeding away.

"Yeah, see ya." Alex muttered to himself, confused by the turn of events.

"And now I'm talking to myself."

* * *

**Keep in mind I have a CUMULATIVE Anatomy/Physiology final on May 11th. And Alex Karev is not in my class. So, my life basically sucks. Review to make it less sucky, please? :)**


	5. The Cat's Meow

**Author's Note: Soooo, this was the chapter I've been dying to write since I actually came up with the idea of this story. I'm excited and hope you are, too!**

* * *

**Chapter 5 – The Cat's Meow**

_**One Month Later**_

When Addison walked into the classroom that morning, she sensed something was amiss. Students were clumped in small groups furiously scrambling through their textbooks and lab manuals. She swore she could hear the pulses of a few students beating spastically.

Then she knew something was really off when she noticed Alex slumped over in his seat, glancing at his manual.

"What the hell's going on? I never see you look over anything before class."

"Good morning to you, too." Alex greeted sarcastically.

"No seriously, what is going on? Why does everyone look so nervous?"

Alex bit back an ecstatic grin. "You didn't look over today's lab, did you?"

"No, why would I? I have all my materials and it's not like she quizzes us on what we're going to be doing."

"Oh, boy. This should be fun." Alex couldn't help himself and beamed knowingly.

"Why? What's today's lab?" Addison eyed him warily.

"Take a look for yourself." Alex motioned to the pages in front of him.

Pages that depicted a dead cat, cut open, with all the organs on display.

"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me." Addison groaned as Alex finally let out the laughter he had been holding in since he figured out she had no clue what they were in for.

"That's right, ladies and gentlemen: Addison Forbes Montgomery gets to cut open a dead cat today!" He leaned back in his desk and threw his arms in the air giddily.

"You are just tickled pink by this, aren't you?" She deadpanned.

"I really, truly am."

"Why?"

"Because you're so prim and proper and you have to handle AND dissect a dead animal today." Alex pointed out like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I've done this before, you know." Addison also pointed out.

"Not for me to witness though!" Alex grinned.

Addison opened her mouth to retort, but Doctor Matthews chose that precise moment to enter and begin lecture, so she took her seat next to Alex.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Alex slip a piece of paper onto her desk. Eyeing him apprehensively, she opened up the paper and glanced down at it. There was a cartoon picture Alex had drawn of a smiling cat, with a word bubble coming out of the mouth exclaiming "MEOW!"

"There's something seriously wrong with you." Addison rolled her eyes and whispered to Alex, who was busy trying to hold in his hysterical peals of laughter.

"I'm just so excited to see this, that's all." He whispered back when he finally gained control of his laughter.

"You seem to be forgetting that I'm a surgeon. I deal with cutting people open daily, AND I took Gross Anatomy, which is much worse than looking at a measly dead cat. It's totally not a big deal, at all." She shrugged and went back to paying attention to the lecture.

Alex snatched back the paper with his drawing on it and jotted something down on it. He slid the paper back to Addison, who unraveled the note to read what he added:

_I bet you get grossed out within five minutes of cutting open the cat._

She looked up and met his infuriatingly smug glance with an equally competitive smirk. Quickly and sneakily, she scribbled a note back to him and tossed it back over to his desk while the professor wasn't looking.

Alex smiled as he looked at what she had written back.

_Oh, it's on, Karev. It's on._

* * *

"Okay, class, I know we've only done individual labs so far involving microscopes, but today I'm going to have you choose a lab partner to work with." Doctor Matthews instructed once the students had entered the lab and put on their goggles, gloves, and aprons.

"Oh, crap." Addison groaned.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked, noticing the troubled look on the redhead's face.

"No one is going to pick me to be their lab partner. This will be like gym class, only more traumatizing."

"You were the kid who was always picked last in gym class?"

"I was the kid that faked strep throat every Tuesday for a solid three years to get out of gym class so that I wouldn't have to be the kid picked last in gym class."

"That sucks."

"I take it you were the kid who usually got to pick who was on their team in gym class?"

"Pretty much."

"Figures."

Before Addison realized what was happening, Alex was grabbing her arm and leading her to a lab station.

"What are you doing?" She asked, but he ignored her and instead turned to face the other students who were still standing around.

"Hey, just so everyone knows, Addison is my lab partner." He called to the students.

The students all rolled their eyes and mostly ignored Alex, turning their attention to pairing off and finding a lab station, while Addison gave him her most incredulous look.

"Karev, what the hell was that?"

"I was making sure you weren't picked last for gym class." He shrugged.

"You didn't even ASK me if I wanted to be your lab partner!"

"Oh, excuse me. Addison, O Great One, will you PLEASE do me the honor of being my lab partner!" Alex said in his most sarcastic voice.

"I'd be happy to." She batted her eyelashes sweetly at him in response.

"Great, now that I saved you from a certain fate of being the last person picked and therefore having to work with the professor," He motioned to where their archenemy Jessica and Professor Matthews were setting up their station, "Could you be a dear and go pick out the cat we're going to use?"

Addison rolled her eyes and begrudgingly made her way over to where the cats were stored. "Fine."

Alex chuckled at his former boss' attitude and set to work setting up their lab station with the appropriate dissecting tools. Just as he had placed the scalpel on the table, a huge bag holding an enormous, dead cat was plopped down on the table in front of him.

"Are you freaking serious?" Alex exclaimed as he took in the size of the cat. "I told you to get us a cat, not a mountain lion!"

"He was the cutest. It is essential that I have the cutest cat." Addison explained.

"That is NOT a cat. That is some kind of radioactive monster!" Alex looked at the cat the same way someone would look at….well, a radioactive monster.

Addison waved a nonchalant hand in the air as Alex began trying to remove the cat from the bag. "Oh, hush. I named him Garfield."

"You NAMED him?" He instantly dropped the cat and the bag back on the table.

"Well, yeah," Addison nodded, "Why not? It seems to suit him. Anyway, everyone else already started cutting, so let's get to it!"

Alex finished removing the cat from the bag and placed the rigid body onto the tray.

She handed him the scalpel. "Make a sagittal incision down the length of Garfield's torso."

He did as he was told without making a snarky remark, which really shocked Addison.

"Done." Alex said quietly, and a little breathlessly, Addison noted.

"You alright, Karev?"

"Fine. I'm fine." He answered as he made himself especially busy studying the lab notes.

"Okay, then." Addison eyed him warily. "I'm going to cut the ribs so we have a better view into the chest cavity."

Alex looked up at the sound of Garfield's ribs cracking under the pressure of the scissors. Suddenly everything around him started spinning.

"Doctor Montgomery?" He stood up clumsily.

"Oh, Karev, what happened to calling me Addison? As much as it annoyed me, I had rather gotten used to it." She answered sarcastically.

When she received no answer, she looked up. "My God, Alex, you're as white as a sheet!"

Alex eyed the scissors which were still in her hand. The scissors that had a small piece of Garfield's ribs still attached.

Then everything went black.

* * *

"Mmm, what the hell happened?" Alex groaned as he opened his eyes and everything came back into focus. He noticed he was no longer in the lab. In fact, he was on a couch in the student lounge, with Addison sitting at a desk next to him.

"You fainted." She explained.

"Crap." He rubbed the back of his head gingerly.

"You don't have a concussion or anything. You fell kind of forward and I was able to catch you and drag you down to the floor so you didn't hit your head. A bunch of guys in the class helped carry you out here, and I was able to complete our lab for us."

"I missed the whole lab?"

"Doctor Matthews offered to go get smelling salts, but I figured I'd work more efficiently if I did the lab without worrying about you hurling all over me and Garfield."

"Gee, thanks." Alex muttered sarcastically as he finally sat up a little and noticed the cold, damp cloth on his head. He lifted it off and looked at Addison, who shrugged a little.

"I thought it might help you feel better."

"Thanks." This time he said it sincerely.

"You're welcome. Also, I told Doctor Matthews we'd make the lab up at a later date, but instead I'll just let you copy my lab report so you don't have to go through that again." She handed him her notes and helped him to stand up.

He swayed a little as he adjusted to the change, but Addison steadied him by placing one of his arms around her shoulders.

She smiled up at him. "Come on, let's get you home."

"Thanks again, Addison." Alex smiled back.

"No problem, Alex."

The two walked out into the parking lot, arms still around one another, when suddenly, Addison let out a triumphant cheer.

"Oh, by the way, I totally won the bet!"

* * *

**Sorry if the cat parts were gross! (My Lab Partner and I actually did get a really fat cat, and we did name him Garfield. I think I may actually miss Anatomy/Physiology class…) Anyway, it actually didn't take me 7 months to update this time (In fact – I'm actually updating within the same month of the last update!) so… go review! (That actually had nothing to do with my updating habits, but still…go review! And now I'm ending this awkward ramble.)**


	6. Nerds

**Author's Note: I know, I know. I'm used to it by now. I suck with the updating! But I made this extra long to make up for lost time! So at least there's that. Dedicated to Juli (Darling Pretty) because I told her I was going to catch up on reviewing her stories today. And instead I wrote this. Anyway, read, review, and enjoy … hopefully! I mean, I enjoyed it. So hopefully you all do, too! Rambling, I'm rambling! Just…go read.**

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Nerds**

_Tick_

_Tick_

_Tick_

Addison stared at the clock mounted to the wall as the second hand torturously moved at a snail's pace while the minute hand seemed to be at a complete standstill. She supposed it was her fault for arriving to class too early, but she couldn't risk someone else stealing her spot. She just knew if she showed up five minutes later, that crazy Jessica would swoop right in and make herself right at home in Addison's T Zone.

'_Addison's T Zone… sounds dirty. Oh crap, I've been spending WAY too much time with Karev,' _she smiled to herself at the thought.

'_Speak of the devil._' Alex chose that exact moment to walk into the classroom and sit down next to her.

"Hey," he greeted as he handed her a coffee and blueberry muffin. It had become an unspoken ritual for them: Addison would arrive early and save their seats while Alex would go to a nearby bakery and purchase breakfast.

"Hey, thanks." She bit into the muffin and took a generous sip of the warm beverage.

"Anything due today?" Alex grinned as Addison rolled her eyes. Another unspoken ritual was that Alex would ask her every class if anything was due. Addison knew for a fact he took meticulous notes (even if he couldn't sometimes read them) and kept careful track of when things were coming up and that he now asked her for the sole purpose of irking her.

"You know very well we're just going over the steps of blood clotting. Then she's letting us go."

Alex was nodding along knowingly until the last part. "Wait, what? We get to leave early today?"

"Yeah, she's giving out our midterm grades today. You see, this is why I tell you to wait until Doctor Matthews is completely done speaking to start packing up your things. Sometimes she gives out vital information at the end of class, and you miss out," Addison lectured.

"Dude, midterm grades aren't really considered 'vital information' in my book. We already know we both have A's."

"You don't know that," She pointed out. "Just because we've gotten 100's on every test, besides that stupid 99, doesn't mean she's going to give us A's."

"I'm pretty sure you can't NOT give a student an A if they get 100's on basically every test. Not giving us A's would be, like, the medical malpractice of the educational system." Alex argued and Addison began to cave. He had a point. They were the top students in the class. It'd be madness if their midterm grades were not A's.

Suddenly, she thought of something. "What if she takes points off for class participation? I barely ever say anything in class."

"You really think Doctor Matthews is gonna take more than ten points off your grade and give you a B instead?" Alex looked at her incredulously.

"She could."Addison answered meekly, her argument now completely worn down by Alex, who she was beginning to think missed his calling by going to Med School instead of Law School.

"She won't." He reassured her just as Doctor Matthews walked in and began lecture.

* * *

"Alright, class, I'm cutting it short today so I can give you each your midterm grades so you know where you stand," Doctor Matthews announced about a half hour into the class.

"Here we go!" Addison glanced at Alex nervously.

"I'll call you up in alphabetical order, and then you're free to leave," The professor instructed and then called up the first student.

Addison and Alex watched in horror as the student walked up to Doctor Matthew's side, looked down at the grade she was pointing to, and blushed profusely as his face twisted into a crestfallen expression. Quickly, he gathered up his things and ran out of the classroom as Matthews called up the next student.

"That was _painful_," Addison groaned.

"Yeah," Alex nodded in agreement, the confidence he had worn on his face the whole class period was now replaced with a look of sheer panic and nausea.

One by one the students were called up. Some walked away looking moments away from shouting "I'M KING OF THE WORLD!" whereas others walked away looking very much like Doctor Matthews had just run over their puppy. And then forced them to dissect it.

"Ugh, look who's up." Addison pointed to the front of the classroom where Jessica was getting her grade.

They watched furiously as Jessica saw her grade, broke out into a triumphant grin, and looked up at them. She then mouthed the words "You're going down" at them and cackled evilly to herself as she strutted out of the room.

"Again, I have to ask: Is she for real?" Alex looked around the room, wondering if anyone else witnessed the completely crazy display.

Addison was still glaring at the door that Jessica had just walked out of. "It's like she enjoys being our worst enemy. If this was Harry Potter, she'd totally be the Draco Malfoy to our Ron and Hermione."

"Harry Potter? Really?" Alex looked up amusedly.

She help up a hand in warning. "One comment on me being a nerd and I'll force Jessica to be your lab partner."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Alex grinned at the same time Doctor Matthews called his name.

Addison had to smile as she swore she heard him faintly whisper "Nerd" to himself when he walked past her.

The smile turned to a concern frown as she watched Alex converse with the professor. His face remained unreadable and she could not hear a word they said over the chattering of the students that were still seated.

Finally, after what seemed like hour, Alex was done. He walked back and got his things.

"What was it?" Addison asked.

"I'll meet you outside." He answered.

"Alex?" She looked at him questioningly.

"I'll meet you outside." He answered, again.

"Fine!" Addison muttered as Alex ignored her and went to wait outside in the hallway.

"Addison Montgomery?" Doctor Matthews called, and the anger Addison was feeling towards Karev in the pit of her stomach was replaced with a feeling of pure dread.

She dragged her feet up to the front of the classroom, feeling like she was being held down by weights every step of the way.

"Hello, Addison," Professor Matthews greeted amicably as she opened her grade book to Addison's page.

"Hi," Addison managed to get out timidly, for if Karev wouldn't tell her his grade, it was sure to be bad. Which meant hers was probably abysmal.

"Let's see, let's see," the professor browsed, looking for the right grade. "Ah here it is, a solid A Plus! Congratulations!"

Relief washed over Addison, "Really?"

Doctor Matthews nodded, "Nice work."

Addison quickly thanked her, gathered up her belongings, and walked out into the hallway where Alex was standing with a group of their classmates.

She caught his attention, and he immediately said goodbye to the group and made his way over to meet her.

"Hey," He smiled nonchalantly, "well, how'd you do?"

She looked at him nervously. She didn't want to say her grade if he didn't do as well.

"What?" Alex's face scrunched up confusedly, "It can't be that bad; just tell me!"

"It's not that it's bad. It's just…I have an A Plus," She confessed.

"Really? That's great! Me, too!" He beamed happily and held up his hand for a high five.

He did not expect Addison to ignore his hand and instead aim for his face.

"OW! What the hell was that for?"

"You jerk! You had me thinking that you were somehow miraculously failing the course! I was worried sick!"

"Well I didn't want to tell you what I got until you had your grade in case I did better because then things would be awkward and I didn't want you to be upset!" Alex explained.

A long pause followed this confession as Addison dwelled on what he was saying. He didn't want her to be upset. This was new.

"Well, you should have just told me in the first place!" She crossed her arms when suddenly a thought occurred to her, "Hey! Wait a second - did you really think you were going to do better than me?"

"No! No, it's not that. It's just…I mean, if she had taken off points for class participation, or whatever…" Alex stammered, but Addison let him off the hook.

"Save it, Karev."

"Well, I'll make it up to you."

"How?" She glanced curiously at him.

"A bunch of us are going to Joe's tonight for some drinks to celebrate our midterm grades. I'll buy you a drink," He offered.

"Karev, you doubted my ability to maintain my A Plus average! You will buy me more than one drink."

"Fair enough."

* * *

That night, Addison walked into Joe's at precisely 9pm, the time Alex had told her everyone was meeting.

"Addison! Over here!"

She looked toward the end of the bar where Alex was surrounded by group of people she recognized as her classmates.

"Hey, everyone!" She greeted as Alex parted the group to allow Addison to sit next to him.

"Hey, we were just waiting for you to get started."

"Started on what?"

"Celebratory shots, of course!"

Apprehensively, Addison eyed the bottle of whiskey and surrounding shot glasses.

"I don't know, Alex. Shots get me really, really embarrassingly drunk."

"That's kind of the point of tonight, Addison." Alex shrugged as he began filling the shot glasses.

She looked around at her fellow classmates, all laughing and having a good time. Oh, what the hell! It was the least they deserved after busting their asses for weeks in the class!

"Alright, let's do this!" Addison exclaimed and the group cheered.

Alex handed out the shots and everyone raised their glasses in the air in preparation for his toast.

"To Anatomy and Physiology!"

"And to being kickass and maintaining A Plus averages!" Addison added.

"And to sounding like complete nerds!" Alex threw in.

"CHEERS!"

* * *

_Several Shots Later…_

"To Doctor Matthews!" Addison threw back another shot so fervently that most of it spilled down the front of her blouse. The rest of their group were either out on the dance floor, or cabs had already been called due to their reckless behavior. It was just her and Alex, downing shot after shot.

"To dissecting dead cats!" Alex toasted after her. Unlike Addison, he had managed to get his shot into his mouth. However, the prospect of toasting to dead cats was so hilarious that he promptly spit his drink out in a fit of hysterical laughter.

"You passed out in our cat lab!" Addison leaned into him and pointed her finger directly into his chest accusingly.

"I did, I did!" Alex groaned and slumped down against the bar, placing his face in his hands.

"You were grossed out by the dead cat!" Addison taunted and Alex had to grin sheepishly.

"I was! I admit it! I was! Plus, you named the cat. You made it too personal!"

Addison scrunched up her face in a comical manner. "Dude, you're a surgeon. You do 'personal' everyday!"

"Not with cats, I don't! I don't know, the smell of the dead animal-"

"Garfield!" She corrected.

"Garfield," Alex shuttered. "Anyway, the smell of him, plus the sound of his ribs cracking, plus it was hot in there, plus dead animals are just plain disgusting…it was all too much."

"I guess I see your point," Addison squinted over at him. His point, she may have seen; however, his face was another story, as there were about six of him swirling in front of her.

"Also, I have a confession to make."

"You do?"

"I do."

"Well, get on with it."

"I never did the cat dissection in college." Alex confessed nervously.

"WHAT?" Addison gasped.

"I know, I know! I got mono the week of the lab. Missed the whole thing! And it was at the end of the semester and the professor let me slide by without making it up!"

"After all the tormenting you did to me before lab, it turns out it should have been ME teasing YOU." She shook her head at him. This proved to be a bad idea though, and she quickly stopped, holding her head in her hands for a few moments to make the room stop spinning.

"I'll make it up to you! Joe – we need two more over here! No you know what, just give us the rest of the bottle." He gestured to their shot glasses, and Joe gleefully obliged, leaving the bottle behind.

"To you!" Alex cheered as their glasses clinked together.

"To me!" Addison replied, and they quickly downed their shots. She grabbed the bottle and poured two more.

"To you!" She toasted.

"To me!" He answered, and once again they clinked their glasses together and gulped down the whiskey.

Wincing as the liquor burned their throats, they slammed the glasses down on the bar and looked up at one another.

Out of breath from the shots and the close proximity, Alex's eyes darkened. Addison glanced down at his lips then back up into his eyes.

They dove for each other at the same time, Addison grabbing onto his collar and pulling him closer while Alex's hands got tangled in her long, red hair. Their lips crashed down onto each other, and never breaking contact, they clumsily managed to make it out of Joe's, where Alex hailed a taxi.

"Where to?" The driver asked, a note of amusement in his voice as he took in their drunken appearances.

Addison and Alex looked at each other and wordlessly came to an agreement.

Alex leaned up to the driver to give him the address, "My place."

* * *

**Well, what did ya think? (Oh and PS – I don't think people who read Harry Potter are nerds. I am in the process of rereading the stories, and I just wanted an excuse to throw in a reference!) I was going to stop this chapter at the part where Addison says "Fair enough." but as a bonus for you all I threw in all the drunken fun! As a bonus for me could you possibly push the button below and drop me a review? :)**


	7. Screw the T Zone

**Hi, everyone! I hope you people still remember me! I'm so sorry for the delay. Nursing school kicked my ass (in the good way, I guess) and then I had an epically long Writer's Block. But I'm here now. And the good news is this story is pretty much almost completed. I wasn't going to post it just yet but I'm waiting to get my acceptance letter from Pottermore and needed to do something to distract me! **

**Anyway, I've decided from now on, not counting the stories I've already posted, I will wait to post stories until I have more chapters written or the story is completely finished. So here's Chapter 7 of Lab Partners. It's not particularly long or happy but we'll get our Addex fluff soon, I promise.**

**PS – Juli and Gigi – don't bother reviewing this. I owe you both about 1 trillion reviews. LOVE YOU GUYS!**

**Lab Partners Chapter 7 – Screw the T Zone**

* * *

Sensing something was off from her usual morning routine, Addison awoke hours earlier than usual. She glanced around at the unfamiliar surroundings and jumped when she noticed she was not alone in the bed. She leaned over her companion, who was snoring softly and blissfully unaware that there was a woman next to him visibly freaking out, and realized it wasn't just any old companion…it was Karev.

"Crap," Addison whispered to herself.

This was not good. Well, from what she remembered it _was_ good…more than good actually. It was pretty much fantastic, but that was beside the point. She couldn't do this, not with him. He was her intern, her infuriating, cocky, mouthy intern. Well, right now he was just her classmate who she happened to get along quite well with, but someday he'd be her intern again and then what?

Then they'd go back to being bickering surgeons who could barely stand the sight of one another, and Addison didn't think she could handle that. It was better to stop things right then and there, rather than try and make something more, only to have it blow up in their faces.

So Addison quietly slid out of the bed, threw on her clothes, and crept out of the room, but not before sparing one last look of longing at the man in the bed, wishing it didn't have to be the way it was.

* * *

She was running late. She went home, slept right through her alarm, woke up and frantically showered, brushed her teeth, and hopped in her car, not even bothering to grab her textbook and notes.

_Never again will I drink on a school night,_ Addison thought to herself as she stumbled into the classroom, raced to her front and center seat, and glanced at the clock.

7:50. She grinned pleased with herself. It was no 7:40 but it would do. At least she got there before that bitch Jessica.

_Ah, speak of the devil_.

Addison suppressed an eye roll as Jessica sauntered into the room. The suppressed eye roll turned into a flat out look of bewilderment as Jessica sat in the seat next to hers. Alex's seat.

"What are you doing? You know that I'm saving that seat."

"You don't own these seats, you know." Jessica pointed out haughtily.

"Yes, I'm well aware of that, but you know Alex and I like to sit next to each other in class."

"Then why," Jessica smirked, "is Alex sitting in the back?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Addison spun her head around and sure enough, there was Alex sitting in the very back row, arms crossed, glaring at her.

She looked at him confusedly. Alex _never _got there before her, ever.

"What are you doing back there?"

His eyes darkened and he opened his mouth to respond, but quickly snapped it shut. Instead he ignored her and set to work organizing his notes on the desk.

"Alex?" She questioned.

He didn't even look up.

Addison was about to get up and storm over to him and demand answers, but Dr. Matthews chose that moment to enter.

"Good morning, class! I thought we'd start this morning off with a pop quiz! Please clear your desks of everything but a pencil. I'll hand out the papers, and you may begin."

A sinking feeling made its way to Addison's stomach. She was not prepared for this at all. She didn't even have a pencil, and the person to the left of her was already working diligently on the quiz.

She glanced to her right, where Jessica was smiling wickedly at her and holding a pencil up.

"Jessica, may I please borrow a pencil?" Addison asked through gritted teeth.

The girl made a big show of sighing and rolling her eyes, "I guess that would be alright. Next time, do come prepared for class though."

"Will do." Addison snatched the pencil from her hands and glanced down at her quiz.

She could not remember one thing they were learning. She couldn't even remember one thing they learned the whole semester. Her mind was completely wiped of all things Anatomy and Physiology.

_Why did Karev get here early? Why did he sit in the back? Why do I still feel him glaring at the back of my head? Why don't I remember anything I've learned? What even is this? Oh, we're doing The Skeletal System? Callie would know this. I know nothing. I have no idea what this answer is, so I'll put C. I haven't used B in a while though, so maybe it's B? WHY IS KAREV SO MAD AT ME?_

"Two minutes left!" Dr. Matthews announced from her desk.

Addison looked around. Almost everyone was finished but her. She finished filling in random circles for her answers and handed in her paper. Then she miserably slumped down in her desk and didn't pay attention to one word of the lecture, effectively disproving psychologists and their theories about the T Zone. Screw the T Zone.

* * *

After class it became a battle of "Who Can Pack up More Slowly" between Addison and Alex. Addison was packing slowly so she'd be able to wait around for Alex and they could talk. She had a feeling Alex was moving at a snail's pace so Addison would leave and he wouldn't have to talk to her at all.

Addison was pretty impressed with herself, considering she only had keys, her cell phone, and the notes Dr. Matthews had handed out that day to pack up, but she managed to stall long enough so that it was only she and Alex in the classroom.

It was then that she realized she didn't actually know what she was supposed to say to Karev.

"Hey," She greeted lamely.

Alex grunted and nodded his head, not looking up as he placed his stack of papers back into his folder one by one.

"That pop quiz kind of sucked, didn't it?"

Alex merely shrugged and set to work picking his pens and highlighters individually and dropping them into his bag.

Addison sighed and decided it was time to pull out the big guns.

"So about last night…" She started.

That got his attention. He looked up from his bag expectedly.

Addison took a deep breath, "…I, um, I think it's best if that was just a one-time thing."

Alex nodded tightly. "Yeah, I think I got that when I woke up this morning and you weren't there."

"Is that what this is about? Is that why you're so angry? Alex, I did that because I didn't want to ruin what we have. I didn't want us to start something and go back to the hospital and end up right back where we started out: hating each other. I like being your friend."

She had been expecting Alex to be placated by the speech, but she was wrong.

"You think that we'd go back to the hospital and I'd suddenly become an ass again? Well then, Dr. Montgomery, I guess we never really were friends because you don't know me at all. See you around."

And with that, Alex jammed the rest of his belongings into his bag, stormed out, and slammed the door, not even sparing her a second glance.

She should have gone after him, she knew it. But her stubborn pride kept her alone in that classroom as silent tears fell from her eyes.

* * *

**Told you it wasn't very happy. But we needed some plot development, or whatever. Anyway, if you want to, you should definitely be my friend on Twitter. Follow me at _kate811. I always follow back!**

**Not even going to beg for reviews. My updating habits don't deserve begging for reviews! Hopefully I'll be redeeming myself soon!**


	8. V for Victory

**Author's Note: Oh, hello there! I'm still alive! You cannot even begin to imagine how sorry I am at the delay all my stories have taken. Nursing school quite literally sucked every last drop of life out of me. The good news is that I am now a Registered Nurse. And I have a job! With some pretty crazy hours that leads to me getting inspired to write at all hours of the night! Anyway, I'm back. One more chapter and an epilogue ought to do it on this thing.**

**Lab Partners, Chapter 8, V for Victory**

Thanksgiving break came and went and before Addison knew it, it was time to buckle down and start studying for the ever dreaded cumulative final exam. She had heard horror stories of what to expect: questions on things you had long since forgotten about, people giving up fifteen minutes in and walking out due to the pressure, students crying and refusing to relinquish their answer sheets even though time had run out.

Addison knew she was an Anatomy/Physiology goddess. She could answer any question thrown her way and she was certain to get an A in the course; however, she couldn't stop the sinking feeling from creeping up on her whenever she thought of the exam.

So it was a great relief to her when she was invited to a study session by some of the girls in the class.

Relief quickly turned to dread as she walked into the library and saw almost every single member of her class sitting at a large table, including Alex Karev.

"You invited him?" She asked incredulously at the same time Alex asked "You invited her?"

Brows furrowed as classmates looked back and forth between the two doctors.

"What's going on?" One kid asked.

"Nothing!" Both Addison and Alex quickly responded, giving away that something was indeed going on.

"Are you guys fighting?" Another classmate asked.

Choruses of "What?!" "No!" "Of course not!" "Don't be ridiculous!" and "Why would you think that?" flew out of Addison and Alex's mouths.

The students eyed the doctors warily.

"We're not!" Addison exclaimed as convincingly as she could muster.

Whether it was because everyone believed them or they just didn't care, this seemed to reassure the students, who went back to reviewing.

Addison sighed in relief and took the only available seat, which thankfully was on the complete opposite end of the table from Karev.

It wasn't that things had been awkward between them. They had ignored each other to a point where it was as if they were nonexistent to one another. They had worked out a wonderful new routine. In class, Alex would arrive earlier and sit in the far back left corner of the classroom. Addison would arrive a few minutes before class and sit in the front right corner. When class let out, Addison would immediately leave, this way neither of them had to look directly at one another or walk past each other. They didn't even see each other during lab anymore. Alex had asked if he could join two guys to form a "lab trio," and Addison had gotten stuck with the always annoying Jessica.

No more saving seats, no more breakfasts before class, no more lab partners.

If she was honest with herself, it really sucked.

A clearing of the throat interrupted her melancholy thoughts, and Addison looked up to find all the students looking at her expectantly.

"What?" She asked.

"It's your turn to answer a question," Greg, the boy sitting next to her whispered to her.

She shot him a grateful look and looked sheepishly at the rest of her classmates, "Er, what was the question?"

The others exchanged worried glances. In all the time they had known Addison she had never not been paying attention. Her hand was usually the first to shoot up, and she always…_always_ knew the answer. It was rather annoying, but it was a constant in their life. If the final was driving her insane…the rest of them didn't stand a chance.

"The four main stages of Mitosis," Jessica supplied, with a smug undertone in her voice.

"Oh, right. Well, um … there's Prophase and…there's um … Telo…Telo-something…" Addison trailed off as she realized she didn't have a clue. What the hell was happening to her? First the Skeletal System quiz, now she couldn't remember the most basic components of beginner's Anatomy/Physiology?

A voice…_his voice_…interrupted her desperate scramble for an answer .

"PMAT. Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, and Telophase."

"I would have gotten it had you not cut me off." Addison shot him her best glare, the kind that made people afraid that she could shoot fire out of her eyes. The glare that worked on every single intern at the hospital…

Except for Alex Karev.

"No you wouldn't have."

His cocky smirk made her want to throw herself across the table and strangle him. However, there were too many witnesses, and Addison was certain she could not coerce all of them into lying to the police and testifying on her behalf.

"Karev, a word, please." She bit out through her clenched jaw.

"I'm good." Alex shot her another cocky smirk and nonchalantly put his arms behind his chair, as if lounging on a beach, rather than the library.

Addison was out of her chair faster than the speed of light. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to a half-standing position.

"Oh, Karev, I insist," She said with false sweetness and she leaned over him.

Alex quickly replaced the look of fear in his eyes to one of careless indifference.

"Whatever, you're the boss. Except not really since we're not doctors anymore. But okay," He muttered as she rolled her eyes and pulled him behind a nearby bookshelf.

"Well?" He asked smugly.

"Well, what?!" Addison asked incredulously. "You can't just interrupt me when I'm answering a question."

"I can if you don't know what you're talking about. Dude, there was no way you were getting that answer."

"Did you just 'Dude' me?!" Addison shrieked.

"Yeah, so what?" Alex nodded, "So what if I 'Dude-d' you?!"

"Well gee, I don't know. Maybe I don't understand where all this attitude is coming from considering the past couple weeks all we've done is ignore each other and now all of a sudden you're being the same smug ass you were back before…oh." Her sarcastic rant trailed off as she realized why exactly Alex was acting the way he was.

"What?" Alex asked.

"I get it now. I said I didn't want us to go back to the hospital after all this and end up hating each other again, so you're making me hate you anyway. You're going to act the way you did before we became friends and just forget everything."

Alex rolled his eyes, "I don't put that much thought into things. I'm being a smug ass because that's what I am: a smug ass."

It was Addison's turn to roll her eyes, "Whatever, Karev. If that's how you want it to be, fine. You go back to being the cocky intern and I'll go back to being the bitch who's annoyed by everything you do."

"Good."

"Great."

She turned on her heels, stomped back to her seat at the group, opened her binder, and smiled sweetly to the rest of the class.

"Now, where were we?"

"You were getting the stages of mitosis wrong." Alex supplied as he slumped down in his chair, put his feet up on the table, and smirked.

"ANYWAY," Addison said, a little too forcibly to not have been bothered by Alex's words, "I think we should move on. We should probably cover the reproductive system, since Dr. Matthews said the majority of the exam would be that."

"You just don't want to admit you had no idea what the steps were." Alex sing-songed under his breath.

Addison's head snapped up from her binder of notes.

"What was that, Karev?"

"Nothing," He said, in a way that clearly meant "Something."

"He said you just don't want to admit you had no idea what the steps were," Ryan, a boy in their class who the phrase "Not the brightest crayon in the box" was pretty much invented for, supplied Addison with her answer.

Addison rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to retort when Greg cut her off.

"Look, can you guys go back behind the bookshelf and just make up already?"

"We're. Not. Fighting." Addison reiterated through gritted teeth.

Greg rolled his eyes, sick of the lying. "Uh, you guys get that those bookshelves aren't soundproof, right? We heard every word you said back there."

A stunned silence overtook the two former surgeons as they both flushed in embarrassment.

"Well…it's…I—," Addison tried to explain but was saved by the bell, the bell of course being Karev.

"Dude, it's none of your damn business if we're fighting or not, but since you heard us clearly fighting, then yeah, we're fighting. But we won't let it get in the way of our studying, so can we please just get back to studying now?"

A few students murmured their consent and turned to their books, but the shrill voice of everyone's least favorite classmate Jessica got their attention.

"No way. You guys couldn't even get through mitosis without fighting. I refuse to be subjected to a study group that has to break every five minutes so you two can argue."

"I hate that girl," Addison groaned to Alex, who smiled and nodded in agreement, forgetting for a moment that they were fighting. When he realized he was fraternizing with the enemy he immediately set his face back to one of feigned indifference.

Addison sighed. "Okay everyone, can we just get back to studying?"

The group nodded, and Jessica scoffed and rolled her eyes, but still turned her textbook to a new page. Eventually everyone settled into a quiet study routine, when Addison and Alex's pagers began blaring.

"Oh boy, looks like Mrs. Wilcox isn't keeping that baby in any longer." Addison glanced at Alex nervously. They hadn't done a surgery together since before their fight. She half expected him to blow her off to stay and study with the group.

But Alex was already up and quickly throwing his books into his schoolbag. "Sorry, gang, we gotta go. See you at the final! Someone let me know where the party is at afterwards!"

Addison breathed a sigh of relief and began retrieving her belongings.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. You two are still seeing patients? Didn't you lose your medical licenses? Oh, this is too good to be true!" Jessica practically cackled with glee.

Whether it was because she had dealt with Jessica and her idiocy all semester, or whether she was just stressed from the mess she had created with Alex, something inside Addison snapped. Her eyes became ablaze with fiery wrath as she stormed towards Jessica.

"Listen, you little brat," Addison's voice was now a growl as she grabbed Jessica by the collar, "you will not say ONE WORD about whatever it is you think Alex and I are doing with our medical licenses. You have done nothing but annoy the crap out of all of us all semester, and I am sick to death of it. If you so much as even look at me the wrong way anymore, I will not hesitate to knock that smirk right off your face. Are we clear?"

By the end of Addison's tirade, Jessica's eyes were wide with fear and her face was white as a sheet. The girl merely nodded, fear taking her voice. Addison relinquished her grip, and Jessica scrambled to pick up her school supplies. Finding her hands too shaky to complete the task, the girl gave up, running out of the library.

The door slammed shut, but not quick enough to cut off the sound of Jessica's sobs. One by one the students of Anatomy/Physiology slowly began to clap. Addison looked around in complete disbelief, finally coming to Alex, whom she had never seen look more proud as he, too, joined in the clapping.

Finally, after students began to seriously consider picking Addison up and parading around the school in a victory lap, Addison remembered herself.

"Oh my God, we have to go! The baby!"

"Crap! That's right! Uh, see ya, everybody!" Alex grabbed Addison's hand and began running for the exit.

"I can't believe it! My very own Slow Clap!" Addison managed to get out through gasps of air as they ran to their cars.

"It was well deserved. You verbally kicked her ass!" Alex beamed at her.

Somehow they both ended up at Alex's car. Seeing that he hadn't said anything, Addison figured it was safe to assume they were carpooling.

"She had it a long time coming. She was such a little bitch all semester. Someone had to put her in her place! I'm glad I was the one to do it!" She joyfully exclaimed.

Alex murmured something under his breath as he fumbled with the car keys.

"What was that?" Addison asked.

"Uh, nothing! Look, uh, let's go! We got a baby to save!" Alex said hurriedly as he got into the car.

Addison shook her head to herself, as she got into his passenger seat, trying to convince herself that she has misheard Alex.

That she hadn't heard him say, _"That's my girl."_

**I dedicate this chapter to Darling Pretty, who had a pretty sucky day. If Addison kicking ass and getting a slow clap doesn't cheer you up, I don't know what will. Hope you all enjoyed!**


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